Dmitry Chernyshenko had a working meeting with Chen Wu, Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
Dmitry Chernyshenko had a working meeting with Chen Wu, Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
Dmitry Chernyshenko had a working meeting with Chen Wu, Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko had a working meeting with Chen Wu, Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, during the Games of the Future tournament in Kazan. The officials discussed the development of bilateral Russian-Chinese relations, as well as joint sport initiatives.
As the meeting began, Dmitry Chernyshenko congratulated members of the Chinese delegation on the Chinese Lunar New Year (the Spring Festival).
“This year, Russia and China are marking the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations. Russian-Chinese relations have reached an unprecedentedly high level and continue to develop steadily. We will widely celebrate this anniversary that is important for our countries,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.
Dmitry Chernyshenko noted that sport contacts were a highly important aspect of bilateral relations. He thanked the Chinese side for showing solidarity regarding the inadmissibility of using sport as a tool of pressure and politicising sport.
“We are convinced that China, a mighty sport and technological power, will become an active supporter of the Phygital movement. We are sincerely happy that a sufficiently large delegation of Chinese athletes is taking part in the 1st Games of the Future in Kazan. I hope that they will achieve good results and victories and that they will appreciate the organisation of this tournament,” the Deputy Prime Minister emphasised.
Dmitry Chernyshenko added that the sides had conducted intensive and detailed political dialogue last year, including at the highest level. Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping held two full-scale meetings in Moscow and Beijing. This year also began with talks between the heads of state.
“China and Russia are strategic partners. We arrived expressly on instructions from our leader, Xi Jinping, to congratulate you on the holiday, the successful start of the Games of the Future. The opening ceremony was a grandiose and diverse show, congratulations. Russian-Chinese relations have become stronger and stronger over the past few years, advancing in the trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian areas. It is important to unlock the potential of available cooperation mechanisms in full measure and to promote interaction in such spheres as education, green energy, information and communications technologies and AI. The organisation of cross years of Russian and Chinese culture creates additional opportunities for deepening our ties,” Chen Wu said.
Chen Wu also noted that Chinese athletes would continue to take part in international tournaments on Russian territory, and that specialised agencies would coordinate relevant issues.
Russian Minister of Sport Oleg Matytsin, who attended the meeting, discussed future plans to expand bilateral sport and physical fitness cooperation.
“Although the cross years of sport between Russia and China (2022–2023) have officially ended, we are interested in expanding sport cooperation. We continue to implement a memorandum, signed during Russian-Chinese talks in Beijing in the presence of Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Premier of China’s State Council Li Qiang. Russia is planning to hold major open-format international sport events. Vladivostok is currently hosting the 1st Primorye Children International Sport Games, with over 100 Chinese athletes taking part. We are inviting Chinese athletes to compete in the BRICS Sport Games, the World Friendship Games, the 8th Summer Children of Asia International Sports Games, as well as the 4th Russian-Chinese Winter Youth Games, due to take place in January 2025 in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, and the 10th Summer Games in 2025 or 2026 in Russia,” Oleg Matytsin added.
Dmitry Chernyshenko suggested holding additional joint field training sessions at Russian sport facilities throughout 2024.
Ambassador at Large Mikhail Khorev, Foreign Ministry Special Envoy for International Sports Cooperation, also took part in the meeting.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to the Russian Federation Zhang Hanhui, Special Representative of the Chinese Government on Eurasian Affairs Li Hui and Deputy Head of the General Administration of Sport Zhang Jiasheng represented the Chinese side.
